Discovery
by thawrecka
Summary: At 35, and very confused, Phoenix reconsiders his sexuality and his feelings for Edgeworth. (Set after Turnabout Time Traveller.)
1. Chapter 1

I originally wrote this two years ago for a prompt on the PWKM about Phoenix discovering, at 35, "that he's romantically interested in both women AND men", and found the idea of writing a story about someone having a sexuality crisis as an emotionally settled person approaching middle age, instead of at a young age like the popular image of teen sexuality crises, too interesting to resist. I hope you find it interesting!

#

The car rolled through the streets. It was so nice and smooth a drive that Phoenix could almost fall asleep in his seat. He looked at Edgeworth's very serious profile as he drove, and the way the street lights bounced off Edgeworth's glasses and sharp cheekbones, and-

"Why did I have to give you a lift home?" Edgeworth asked. He sounded so grumpy. It almost made Phoenix laugh.

"Because I'm an old man with a back injury and everyone else already got a lift with someone else," Phoenix said.

"I object. You're not old. You're the same age as me."

And then Phoenix did laugh, because he sure didn't feel young any more, but he didn't understand how body got so old over night. It had been a lovely night, a lovely wedding, and it felt strange being surrounded by so many people who had their lives figured out when some mornings Phoenix could barely remember how to use the microwave.

Edgeworth finally pulled up outside Phoenix's building. Phoenix opened his mouth to thank him and thought, _I should kiss him_. And then, _wait what_? He paused in his movements and blinked, confused.

"Are you ever going to get out of my car?" Edgeworth asked.

"Right, sorry," Phoenix said, finally rushing out of his seat and slamming the door behind him.

Edgeworth sped off. Phoenix stood on the footpath trying to convince himself he was just tired.


	2. Week 1

When he got inside it was late, and he was tired. He could hear Trucy talking on her phone, and though she bounced up to ask him how the wedding was when she saw him, he told her to go to bed in a flat voice. He had too many thoughts to sort through and not enough energy for them all.

She pouted at him.

"We'll talk in the morning, Truce."

He couldn't stop thinking about it in the shower, as he washed away the day. _Why would I want him to kiss me, like he'd driven me home at the end of a date?_ In theory he was okay with the idea that a man could have a stray thought about another man, but it was Edgeworth. Edgeworth was off limits for that sort of thought.

His brain rewound to the moment of imagining it. Imagining leaning in, taking Edgeworth's lower lip between his teeth and-

"Wow, no," he said to himself.

He looked down. His body didn't seem to be listening.

He refused to touch himself while thinking about Edgeworth. _Cold thoughts, cold thoughts. He's your childhood friend. It would be weird and wrong._ A thought about Redd White and Grossberg doing it on a pile of coleslaw finally stopped the upward progress of his dick. He turned the shower off and went to bed.

But the idea of it returned. He didn't need to be this messed up over one thought. But maybe- maybe once, sitting next to Edgeworth at one of Trucy's shows, he'd imagined Edgeworth putting his arm over the back of Phoenix's chair, and leaning back into it. He might have been drawn to the smell of Edgeworth's cologne. Okay, so- maybe this wasn't the first time he'd had the thought. Maybe this was just the progression of the thought, the logical next step for his brain to take when it wasn't being logical.

"This is so stupid," he said against the silence of his bedroom.

It was four am by the time he got his brain to stop worrying at that one thought, and go to sleep.

Larry called the next morning at a ridiculous hour. Everyone else moved into their thirties and got to experience the joy of three day hangovers, but not Larry, apparently, who thought calling anyone before 9am on a weekend was a good idea.

"Nick, buddy, we should hang out. We'll go to a bar and we'll catch up without anyone being accused of a crime first. What do you say?"

Phoenix groaned the groan of a man who'd really been looking forward to more than five hours of sleep. "Sorry, Larry. I promised Maya I'd hang out with her before she has to go back to Kurain village." Total lie, but he was going to make it true as soon as he could. "All week. I'm all booked out."

"Can I come?" Larry asked.

Okay, maybe not the great excuse Phoenix had been thinking it was for a moment. He grasped around for an answer. Wait, there was something. "Do you really think it's a good idea? She's still mad at you for catching that bouquet." Take that!

"You wouldn't let her hurt me, would you?" Larry whined

"You say let her like I'd have any control over it." Phoenix yawned his way through the sentence.

"That's not fair!"

It was too early to convince himself to care. Phoenix put his phone back on the bedside table without even bothering to hang up the call, and rolled over to bury his head in the pillows.

He awoke, eons later, to Larry saying, "Thanks for listening, dude."

"Any time, Larry."

When Larry finally hung up, Phoenix yawned and stretched, reviewing the events of the night before, and imagined kissing Edgeworth all over again. If this kept happening he really was going to have to talk to Maya about it, so she could make fun of him until he got his head straight.

He needed to understand what was happening in his brain. Okay, he looked at evidence and figured out what it meant for a living. He could figure out what this meant. He got out of bed because he did his best thinking standing up, put one hand against his face to stimulate his brain, and tried to work his way through it.

First, he was definitely attracted to Edgeworth, even in broad daylight, first thing in the morning, without Edgeworth even doing anything to make himself worth kissing. He might even have been attracted for years without even noticing. _I am too old to have a crush on Edgeworth. This is embarrassing._

But it wasn't as if he'd suddenly stopped being attracted to women overnight. Almost all the women he knew were mentally off-limits to think about that way, due to having known them as teenagers, but if he thought about some strange woman with nice legs he'd seen on the street, the women on movie posters, some of the women he'd seen in the courthouse, there was definitely a reaction. So maybe Edgeworth was the exception to his heterosexuality?

But he had to think over all the facts to make sure and that meant re-examining everything. Was he attracted to any other men? Was there precedence for this? He tried to think through his reactions to every man he'd ever known. The judge was definitely not his type and he'd rather throw himself out of a window than be turned on by Larry. Blackquill might have been nice underneath the weird laugh and terrifying hair, but Phoenix had never been particularly drawn to nice, and the idea of Blackquill taking his clothes off threw up a 'wrong way, go back' sign in his brain. Apollo was too young and Phoenix didn't really want to be the kind of person who lusted after employees, even if Apollo was off on his own now. And while he'd heard that Klavier Gavin made men question their heterosexuality, he couldn't say he'd ever felt the same.

 _Was that everyone?_ Phoenix asked himself, before his brain reminded him that he'd been acquainted with another Gavin for many years. Another Gavin who was poised and good-looking and also a total psycho.

"No," he said to himself, horrified at the thought. Being attracted to Kristoph would be awful. Really, really awful. He'd always felt there was a near-sexual charge to hiding how much he loathed Kristoph but maybe there was nothing near about it at all. Phoenix wished he hadn't realised this at all. That kind of revelation before he was even caffeinated was just unfair.

With all that evidence there was only one possible conclusion: he was definitely, definitely not straight after all.

#

Was the waiter attractive, and if he was, was Phoenix supposed to be noticing it? Phoenix had been officially not-straight for barely a day but already he felt like he was failing at it. He narrowed his eyes at the waiter, who juggled the plates well but nearly walked into a table. That was a no, then.

"Earth to Nick. Come in, Nick. How is it on planet oblivious?" Maya said.

Phoenix turned back to look at her. "It's great. I'm going to set up a new civilisation there and never pay attention to anyone again."

Maya scoffed and sipped her drink. "If you asked me here to ignore me, then it's a good thing you're paying."

"You're the one who chose a burger place with the slowest service in the world." Half an hour in Maya's presence and already he felt himself reverting to how he'd acted at the age of 24. Part of him hoped that would never change.

"The burgers here are supposed to be really good!"

He might get to see evidence of that if they arrived before the next ice age. Maya nudged him as if to remind him as if to remind him she was still there, waiting for a real conversation to happen.

Phoenix breathed in deep. "In your opinion as a straight woman, do you think that waiter is attractive?"

As soon as he saw the look of mischief on her face he knew that was the wrong way to start.

"How can you know that I'm straight? Maybe I'm planning to run off with Ema Skye as we speak. I could be pining for Franziska von Karma after our long ago night of forbidden passion in the mountains," she said.

"I don't think that really happened."

"You will never know. That's between me and her whip."

Phoenix buried his face in his hands. "I'm asking a serious question." He should have known better to ask a serious question that wasn't about murder, before the burgers arrived at their table.

"And the waiter is seriously not hot," Maya answered.

"What about Edgeworth? Would you say he's attractive?"

"If you like squinting and weird pale eyebrows, sure. You're not trying to set me up with him, are you, Nick? "

"What? No!" This conversation was spiralling rapidly out of control... not that it had ever been in control.

"I always thought he was gay," Maya said. She had her deep thinking face on. "Are you trying to figure out what I like so you can set me up with someone else? I don't need that when Sister Bikini tried it, either."

Phoenix groaned in discomfort. "I would never do that. I value my life." He let his shoulders slump and then flopped face first onto the table. "I'm trying to say- that is, I mean that, uh- If I happened to be attracted to a man, I might want to talk to you about it. But maybe not, because you're terrible."

Maya burst out laughing. "Do you want me to get the waiter's number for you, because he's coming this way."

"No, I would never." She was right; he was seriously not hot.

Then Maya gasped and said, "You have a crush on Edgeworth. That's why you're asking if he's cute," and laughed even harder.

Phoenix looked up at her. "No. Shut up!"

"You do! You want to marry him and have his frilly cravat babies."

"That's not even possib- Fine, he's attractive. I find him attractive. Stop laughing at me."

Finally, he was saved by the arrival of the burgers. Even Maya couldn't eat and laugh at the same time. The burgers were huge and they oozed cheese and grease and slimy sauce all over the plates. After all that, Phoenix didn't really want to eat.

"You could take my embarrassing late in life sexual identity crisis more seriously," Phoenix said.

Maya stopped in the middle of chewing. A piece of lettuce fell out of her burger and fell wetly to the plate. "Didn't you know you're bisexual already? I thought you knew."

"Of course I didn't know! If you knew, why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you knew. You're 35."

"I know how old I am." Phoenix wanted to cover his face with his hands again. He could feel himself burning red with embarrassment. "Why couldn't I have figured this out at college like a normal person?"

"It's nice that you felt safe to come to me with this," Maya said, surprisingly sincere, and then resumed chewing the horrifying abomination masquerading as a burger.

"Thanks, Maya," he said.

#

"So, what are you going to do about it, Nick?" Maya asked.

"Do about what? I have no control over how expensive burgers are." Phoenix hoped a nice post-food walk would at least help him get his head straight. Well, not _straight_ exactly, but less overwhelmed. That the only thing he could manage to think about at that moment was his desire to gently touch Edgeworth's face was bewildering to him.

"I'm talking about you and Mr Edgeworth! Should you declare your feelings first or just kiss him?" Maya seemed to have the whole course of the relationship figured into a series of options already.

"I choose neither. I've been bisexual for about five seconds. I'm not ready to do anything about it."

Maya stopped walking to look sympathetically at him, which was the only thing more alarming than when she mocked him. "Not five seconds, three decades. You just didn't notice until now. For a smart guy you don't notice a lot of things. So are you going to tell him your feelings now, or waste more time?"

Phoenix could feel himself slumping over more with every moment. "What's the point? I think I'm an okay person, but Edgeworth is someone who drives a sports car and owns investment properties and doesn't need a teenager to help him with his taxes. He's definitely not going to be interested in someone like me when he can find someone on his own level."

"I hate having to say this, Nick, but you're a really cute guy. You're funny and smart, and nobody understands the tax system anyway. You could get an Edgeworth. You could get someone much more handsome and manly if you wanted. I believe in you!"

"Maybe, but..." Phoenix trailed off. He couldn't imagine Edgeworth ever wanting to return his feelings. Edgeworth was one of the least cool people he'd ever met but he had a brilliant mind and a surprisingly sharp jaw line. Who wouldn't want a chance to face his cutting wit? He probably had lots of men vying for his attention. Even so... "You heard him in that courtroom. How could I want to be with someone who didn't believe in the power of love? And he'll never want to get married."

"Hey, whoa! Who said anything about marriage? I thought you were just going to ask him on a date."

"Uh..." He could feel the sweat starting to gather on his forehead.

"That's not just a crush. Are you in love with him?" Phoenix felt he should object but suddenly couldn't find any evidence to defend himself against that charge.

He put up a token argument – but he knew it was weak. Neither he nor Maya was convinced by his feeble arguments. They argued about frilly cravat babies all the way back to her hotel.


	3. Week 2

He was still thinking about it a week later, when he was putting props together for Trucy's show. Even though she had that regular gig at the Penrose she still did smaller shows in bars with the older, less flashy tricks, to maintain her fan base. Klavier Gavin had dropped by to wish her luck and promise he would be in the audience earlier. The way Trucy had acted had confirmed for him that out of the two of them, Trucy was the one who was more likely to discover a secret attraction to Klavier and decide to run off with him. He was an entertaining kid but he really did nothing for Phoenix at all.

Trucy looked up from a document she was perusing to peer at Phoenix, who was re-gluing a piece of fabric to a bit of plywood.

"I can finish that for you, daddy. You should go take your seat, already. Maybe you could find me a new mommy in the audience," she said with a wink.

Phoenix put the prop down and paused. There was so much there to object to, he wasn't sure where to start. "Trucy... don't you think you're too old to be making that joke still?"

"Actually, it's the opposite. I get closer to being an adult every day and do you really want to be alone when that happens? I worry about my poor daddy all alone in the world without anyone to hold him." The sparkle in her eye told him she might never quit needling him about his love life. He wasn't nearly ready to start panicking about her flying the coop yet.

"I blame myself for letting you become friends with Pearl." At least they'd moved on from insinuating he should fall madly in love with Maya. "You know, not everyone wants to be in a relationship. Some people just aren't into that sort of thing." Okay, he wasn't really one of them. He'd loved that sort of thing back when he still tried to date, not that it ever worked out very well for him. Still, he supposed he should mention his other issue – she deserved to know. "And maybe... maybe I might want to bring a man home, instead."

Trucy put a hand to her mouth and gasped. "Really, daddy?"

Phoenix gulped and tried not to panic. "In theory, because that's... also an option."

She took off her top hat and fidgeted with the brim. "I had no idea."

"It's not something you have a problem with, is it?"

"As long as it's not Uncle Larry that you bring home, I'm okay with it."

"Of course it's not Larry!"

"Then in that case, it's just who you are, and how could I have a problem with that?" She hugged him because she was the best kid in the world, and he didn't know what he did to deserve her.

"You're a good kid," he said, pressing a kiss onto the top of her hair. Then he took the hat from her hand and shoved it back on her head. "Go out there and wow them."

#

Edgeworth was waiting for him in the audience with that fond little look in his eyes he sometimes got.

"I trust you have been well," Edgeworth said.

Did that half smile always take his breath away? "Just fine." Sure, his whole world had tilted on its axis, but yeah, just fine. "I wasn't sure you'd make it."

"I rearranged a meeting," Edgeworth said. He made a show of scoffing, but Phoenix could tell that was warmth in his eyes.

It made Phoenix's knees a little weak. Or that could have been because of the long walk to the venue. Either way, it was a good excuse to collapse into a chair and sigh. Phoenix looked up at Edgeworth until he said, "Very well, then," and sat next to him.

"You needn't be so dramatic," Edgeworth said. "Unless by fine you meant that something terrible has happened, and I'm meant to ignore what you say and ask you about it. I still struggle with these cues at times, after all these years."

"Uh, no. Not that. And please don't ask about it. Let's just watch the show and support Trucy's work."

"That had been my plan from the beginning."

"Or we could talk about how things are at the Prosecutor's office."

"As ever, everything is in a constant state of disarray and my subordinates have so many feelings. Especially Gavin-"

"Who is here right now, so we should probably have that conversation later on the phone." Phoenix looked over to the bar where he could see Klavier merrily texting someone on his phone, or possibly pretending so he could sneakily eavesdrop on people.

"Ah, yes, of course." Edgeworth looked away and scratched the back of his neck for a moment, bringing a moment of silence that could have very easily turned into an awkward pause. Because Phoenix was noticing, at that moment, how much he wanted to rip off that ridiculous cravat and rub his fingers over the dip in the back of Edgeworth's neck. He wanted to dishevel Edgeworth's hair and then drop to his knees and- okay, that was not a good train of thought to be starting on when his daughter was about to perform.

Phoenix opened his mouth to say something. But then Maya showed up.

She flopped down into the seat on the other side of him. "Sorry I'm late."

"Uh, it's only just starting..."

"Did I interrupt a moment?" she asked. Phoenix put a hand to his face in fear of the smirk he'd see if he let himself look at her. "What's up with your hair, Nick? A bit keeps flopping at the front. What did you do to it?"

"It just does that now."

"It's great." She learned over in front of him and he squashed back in his chair to make room. "Don't you think it looks sexy like that?"

"I'm quite sure I didn't notice," Edgeworth said.

"What are you doing?" Phoenix hissed. He could hear the drum roll that announced Trucy's arrival on stage.

"I'm sure Wright would prefer it if he could watch his daughter perform, rather than watching the side of your sleeve," Edgeworth said.

Maya shoved herself back in her seat.

On stage, Trucy was warming the audience up by bringing odd objects out of her magic panties, so they'd be ready for when she set things on fire later. As she produced one bizarrely large household item, after another, and muttered about that not being what she was looking for, the audience started to laugh. When Phoenix finally caught her eye, Trucy winked. Then pulled out the next prop, mysteriously mended, and declared it to be what she needed.

"Oh, she's gotten a lot smoother at that since I last saw it," Maya said.

"Years of practice," Phoenix said. A magician might not reveal her tricks, but she did practice them in front of her father several nights a week after finishing her homework.

"Hey, Edgeworth, how come you're not at the Steel Samurai stage show?" Maya asked.

A person sitting behind them made an annoyed ssh-ing sound.

Edgeworth cleared his throat. "I simply felt this was more important," he said, soft-voiced.

"That means he has tickets to see it tomorrow night," Phoenix said, amused.

Phoenix looked at Edgeworth and could tell Edgeworth was fighting the urge to either lie and deny it, or ramble on about the cultural importance of a weird kids show, by the way he was biting his lip. Probably because the idea of speaking through Trucy's show offended his sense of propriety or something. It made Phoenix want to tease him, but he didn't want to aggravate the people sitting behind him any further.

Suddenly people around him gasped. Phoenix could tell Trucy must have moved on to setting things aflame – the audience always reacted well to that one. Sure enough, when he looked she was doing things with fire, that other parents might be a little alarmed by but that Phoenix knew was perfectly safe. He knew how this bit went, though, so instead of watching Trucy he watched Edgeworth's reactions.

Edgeworth had such an expressive face. He might try to play it cool but Phoenix could see the way he got caught up in the show. The worry and delight rolled across his face. He made a strange, low sound and then his hand fell onto Phoenix's knee, warm even through the fabric of his clothes. Phoenix tried to remember how to breathe properly like a normal person. They were friends; friends could touch each other all the time, even if Edgeworth had never gotten that memo before. There was no reason to fixate on it. And Edgeworth had probably meant to put his hand on his own knee, after all. And yet...

Phoenix looked up to where Edgeworth was looking down at his own hand, with an expression of utter confusion.

"My apologies," Edgeworth whispered, as he moved his hand away.

After that, Phoenix couldn't concentrate at all.

He couldn't help feeling on edge, wondering the whole time if Edgeworth would accidentally touch him again. But Edgeworth's hands were pressed tight to his own thighs and his eyes never left the stage. Phoenix tried to turn and watch Trucy wow the crowd but he couldn't stop thinking about the man next to him, like he was still that school boy that got the biggest, most ridiculous crushes. Embarrassing at the age of 35 to feel so overwhelmed.

Trucy ended her performance. The lights came up and people started moving out of the seating area, to go home. Phoenix didn't know how to ask Edgeworth to stay a little longer so they could talk more.

Maya had no such problems. "You should stay and talk to Trucy," she said, leaning forward to look at Edgeworth. "All performers like a bit of praise."

"I'm afraid I can't. I have to get back to the office," Edgeworth said, moving to stand. "Please tell Trucy she was very impressive."

"I always do," Phoenix said.

"We will talk later, on the phone," Edgeworth promised.

"Right, that thing. We'll talk." The breath held in Phoenix's chest as Edgeworth held him in his gaze just that bit too long. Had they always been a bit weird like this and Phoenix never noticed? Then Edgeworth turned, decisively, and walked away down the aisle.

Phoenix slumped back into his seat.

"What was that about?" Maya asked.

"He wants to complain about work."

"He was weirdly intense about it."

He should have been heading backstage to help Trucy pack up for the night, but he felt rooted to his seat.

"I've been thinking-" Phoenix said.

"There's no way that can end well."

"-and I've got a theory. I don't know why I didn't figure it out when I was young, but after I lost my badge I was so miserable when I wasn't with Trucy, and then I had to focus on getting my badge back, then everything with the Phantom, and then everything in Khura'in. I think my brain was waiting until I had the time and energy to relax a bit to finally figure out that I'm a little bit... A little bit queer." He let himself just breathe for a moment. "Is it ever going to get easy to say things like that?"

Maya patted his shoulder. "It does make some kind of sense. You've had a lot on your mind. What about the Edgeworth thing?"

"I was probably falling for him by degrees for years without ever noticing. That's why I couldn't stop it until it was too late."

"If someone paid for me to go to Europe I'd probably fall for them, too. Where can I find a sugar daddy like that?"

"Shut up. It's not like that. I like his personality."

"At least have the self-respect to like him for fancy car."

He was so intent on grumbling at Maya's teasing, that he didn't notice Trucy bounding up to them until she said, "What are you talking about?" from somewhere just above his right ear. That was his cue to stand up and get ready to go.

"I'm just making fun of Nick's romantic woes," Maya said. She elbowed him forward so they'd all start moving down the row of seats.

"So, you know about that thing?" Trucy asked.

"You mean, his tragic crush on Mr Edgeworth?" Maya said.

Trucy gasped. "Really?"

"Don't tell Trucy things like that," Phoenix said, fully expecting to be ignored.

"I have to tell Pearl all about this," Trucy said.

"Do not tell that to Pearl," Phoenix ordered. The sound of laughter gave him the suspicion they weren't listening.


	4. Week 3

It was a Saturday. Maya was on the train back to Kurain village, having promised not to tell Pearl anything about his new revelation until he was actually ready for that, and also having teased him a few more times for good measure. Athena had been instructed not to call about anything, work-related or otherwise, unless it was an absolute emergency. Trucy had been sent off to go shopping with Jinxie Tenma. He had the place to himself.

If Phoenix was going to come to terms with his newly discovered bisexuality, then he was going to have to figure out how it worked. And that meant grappling with his great nemesis – the internet. For this there could be no witnesses.

He approached the computer warily. He'd dragged the laptop into his room, because even doing this alone in the living room made him feel too exposed, and nearly tripped over the power cord in the process. Now it sat on his bed, taunting him.

He sat down, took a deep breath, and typed into the search bar: 'gay porn'. He pressed enter, and began to regret his choices almost immediately.

He chose a random website. There were so many acronyms. So many pictures of random bits, floating about as if they weren't supposed to come attached to a body – Phoenix suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of sympathy for every woman that had ever been subjected to unsolicited dick pics. And so many pictures of ugly men. Whoever told him the men were better looking in gay porn had been lying to him.

He closed his eyes and picked a video, blindly. When he dared to open one eye, all he could see in the video was two men kissing. Well, that was okay. That didn't make him want to run in panic. In fact, it was kind of sweet. But then- oh no, cut straight to the naked anal sex with no build up. It was kind of noisy, so he tried to mute the sound on the laptop but the touch-pad had always been a little wilful, so he managed to turn the sound all the way up instead. He freaked out and jumped back. Oh, there was no way the neighbours didn't hear that. He reached back to turn the sound down and then the screen got obscured by a pop up of some other gross sweaty naked strangers on a different website. He tried to close the pop up but it was almost immediately replaced by another – and he didn't want to think how that was anatomically possible. And then three ads popped up at once. He kept clicking but soon there were enough that he couldn't see anything but the borders of ads. The screen froze, but the sound kept going.

He slammed the laptop shut. That wasn't going to be enough to end his embarrassment, so he pulled out the power cord, then flipped it over and tried to pull the battery out, too.

There, done. He might have to salt the laptop in some kind of arcane ritual to cleanse it of any electronic diseases it had picked up. Either way, he was never going to be able to use it again.

#

For a girl who'd spent several hours shopping and talking about ancient demons with a friend, Trucy was surprisingly grumpy when she got home. She threw herself on the couch and curled up in a ball. Phoenix was starting to spiral into worry until Trucy revealed the problem was she couldn't find a place in Nine Tails Vale to buy tampons.

At least going to the supermarket meant getting out of the house and away from the demon computer.

He bumped into Klavier Gavin, of all people, in the medications and toiletries aisle. Gavin was peering at the shelves through sunglasses, when he finally looked away and noticed Phoenix.

"Sunglasses inside at night, really?" Phoenix asked.

"They are prescription and I could not find my contact lenses."

"I'm surprised you go to Totally Generic Supermarkets. I would have assumed you go to Whole Paycheck."

"I believe you meant Whole Foods."

"I said what I meant to say."

"This is the only chain that carries the toothpaste I use." Klavier said this with the kind of determined smile that probably fooled someone, and flicked his hair in a calculated way. It gave Phoenix an interesting idea.

"You should come to my place for dinner. Trucy would love to see you." It was an order more than an offer.

"Ah? Then I should make the Fräulein happy, ja?" Klavier Gavin looked far more excited than any man should be to cancel whatever plans he had on a Saturday night so he could eat microwaved vegetables in someone's tiny apartment.

#

Trucy shrieked with glee when Phoenix said, "Look what I got you at the supermarket," and Klavier walked through the door. Phoenix discreetly passed her his purchases on the way to the kitchen and left them to it.

With dinner served and everyone sitting at the tiny kitchen table, Phoenix looked Klavier Gavin in the eye and said, "Which one turned you down before they left? Apollo or Ema?"

"I merely respect their professional abilities, Herr Wright."

"I think that means both of them, daddy," Trucy said, eyes alight with mischief. "Poor Klavier. So alone."

"No wonder you have time to eat with a poor family." It amused Phoenix to watch Klavier try not to let his face react.

"I know what the tabloids say about me, but-"

"I haven't been reading the tabloids," Phoenix said. "Have you been reading the tabloids, Trucy?"

Trucy tilted her head and winked. "I get all my news from TV."

"I assure you, I have the utmost respect for- Ah, you are teasing me, of course. I am so lucky to be double teamed by both members of the Wright family," Klavier said.

"You might want to rephrase that last statement," Phoenix said.

His phone rang before he could get deeper into the interrogation.

"No phones at the table, daddy. You made that rule!"

"That was so you wouldn't gossip with Pearls at all hours," Phoenix said.

"That doesn't matter. You should follow the rules, too."

Phoenix looked at the name lighting up his phone. "It's Edgeworth. I'm taking it."

He picked up his phone and walked around the corner, so he could talk in peace.

He must have answered with something of a sigh, because Edgeworth responded with, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Oh, just torturing one of your subordinates."

"Dare I ask?"

"I got Klavier Gavin to follow me home." The noise Edgeworth made in reaction could as easily have been soft laughter as disapproval of Phoenix's sense of humour. "And I've left him alone with my teenage daughter."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"I think it's good for Trucy to have one show biz friend that doesn't want anything from her but her company." Klavier seemed fairly shrewd. Maybe if Trucy spent more time talking with him they could avoid a repeat of anything like the Roger Retinz situation. "You wanted to complain about him the other day. Is that why you called?"

"If there's a chance he might overhear, I'd rather not."

Phoenix peered round the door to spy on Trucy and Klavier, noting the way Trucy nodded seriously as Klavier said, "I like it there but they're not a signatory to the Berne Convention..."

Phoenix turned back around the corner and marched himself into his bedroom. "I think they're talking about international copyright law. Nobody's going to eavesdrop on anyone here, believe me." He closed the door and sat himself on the bed, leaning against the pile of pillows set up at just the right angle for his back. "I've gone to my room, just in case. Tell me what he's doing wrong."

"Ah, if you're sure."

With the door closed and the outside world blocked out, Edgeworth's voice suddenly sounded so much more low and intimate than a moment ago. _All in your head, Phoenix_ , he thought. Lying on the bed to take this phone call started to seem like a bad idea.

Phoenix made a noise of encouragement to get Edgeworth talking, because he wasn't sure he trusted his voice to speak for a moment.

"Well, then. Every time I see Gavin he smiles at me. He smiles all the time. It's unnatural."

Phoenix started laughing before Edgeworth even finished his complaint.

"I don't appreciate your laughter, Wright."

"I can see how an employee that acts pleased to see you would be terrible. Next he'll be doing something worse like respecting your authority and working hard to get fair verdicts." Phoenix mock gasped. "Don't tell me, it's already happening."

Phoenix loved the ridiculous displeased noises Edgeworth made every time he said something ridiculous.

"That is not the problem! The problem is, to be honest with you, Wright, I'm not sure what the problem is, but it's very problematic."

"I'll pretend to be very disgruntled the next time I see you, if it will make you happy."

"Yes, I would prefer it. Don't smile at me at all."

"And who else is being too friendly?"

Edgeworth cleared his throat. "Well, uh, Blackquill is a good man with whom I share many interests but he keeps touching me. On the shoulder."

Phoenix leaned further back into his nest of pillows. "Do you feel sexually harassed?"

"I should hope that's not his intent. Though he does keep winking at me."

"If winking is how that guy flirts, then he's been flirting with the judge, at least a dozen witnesses, and every defense attorney he's gone up against, including me."

"He's not allowed to flirt with you. I'm banning it and shall inform him as soon as possible."

"Yeah?" Phoenix could hear how breathy his own voice was and felt warmth rushing to his face. Edgeworth's breathing was so loud in his ear. Phoenix licked his lips and tried to focus. "If I told anyone you could be this funny, they wouldn't believe me."

"A man like me doesn't remain friendly with Larry Butz for so many years without retaining a sense of humour."

"We couldn't dump Larry as a friend if we tried."

"I have tried and it's never worked."

Edgeworth sighed. Phoenix could feel the last of the laughter leaving his body.

"You don't have a problem with Gavin, after everything that happened?" Edgeworth asked. There was something careful about his voice. Phoenix felt how strange it was that they'd become careful with each other after all this time.

"Klavier? I don't think I'll be rushing out to make him my new best friend or anything, but he was just doing his job, and it's been so long. I couldn't dislike anyone who'd like Trucy that much, anyway."

"That is a point in his favour. I should let you get back to them, I suppose."

Phoenix didn't really want to let him go, but he said his goodbyes, and hung up the phone.

He pushed himself off the bed, ignored the twinge in his back, and made his way back to where Trucy and Klavier were. Their conversation halted as he clomped his way back to his seat.

"Herr Wright, what is the real reason you asked me here?" Klavier asked, with a surprisingly sombre expression.

"You looked like you needed it." Then Phoenix leaned forward over the table and added, "But there is something you can do for me."

"Oh?" Klavier raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me what's happening in bisexual world. What's the bisexual news? It's relevant to my interests."

Klavier looked very confused.

"Daddy's coming out of the closet," Trucy said.

Klavier blinked and then relaxed his face into a smile. "Did somebody forget to sign you up to the bisexual mailing list? What a terrible oversight."

"Yes, that's definitely the problem."

"Then here's your membership badge," Klavier said, retrieving something from inside his jacket. "It's the bisexual flag. The middle is purple. You are not the first person to have come to me about such things."

Phoenix looked, stunned, at the badge Klavier had just handed him. "Wow, you really have badges. I didn't know there was a flag."

"Daddy, look, it's blue and pink on the outside. Those are your colours."

"That's, uh, wow. I'm not putting this on my suit. I don't need to use the power of bisexuality at work." Phoenix looked up at Trucy's smiling face and the way it shone with enthusiasm. "I'll put it on the beanie. That will be an attractive look." Phoenix found himself laughing again, this time with relief.

"Welcome to the club," Klavier said.


	5. Week 4

He ate his toast while bisexual. He put on clothes while bisexual. He opened his mail while bisexual. It felt like more should have changed.

#

The office was surprisingly quiet. That made it harder to avoid the paperwork that had been piling up on his desk.

He couldn't help wondering what Edgeworth was doing that moment. He'd probably been at work for hours. Phoenix wanted to imagine him suffering through endless meetings with diplomats or struggling with performance reviews. Maybe working his way through endless paperwork. But Edgeworth was doing something important about legal corruption, something to make the world a better place, and Phoenix was staring at a blank page, wishing he'd noted how many billable hours he'd spent on a job.

Was he thinking about Phoenix? Phoenix wanted to believe that Edgeworth was just as obsessed with him as he was with Edgeworth, so he wasn't the only one feeling this way. So he wasn't the only one barely able to pay attention to life with wanting to hold the other's hand and kiss them goodnight at the end of the day. But then he thought of those trips to Europe – where they stayed in nice hotels and worked closely together and Edgeworth offered to pay for everything and never made a move – and thought, if it was going to happen, it would have happened by now. Phoenix felt like he had only just become ready to deal with his feelings and already it was too late.

He needed to get this out of his head, so he told Athena he was going for a walk. It didn't help.

#

He figured he should tell his parents at some point, but for all that they weren't estranged, they didn't talk much either. He'd get Trucy to send them an email, maybe.

That left telling only one last person he considered like family – Pearl Fey. He didn't know how that would go. He wanted her to think well of him. He'd been there to see her face the first time she ate pizza. He'd been there for her first Christmas without her mother. Then again, she'd also seen him at his lowest; surely there was no way he could fall lower in her estimation.

He picked up the phone and dialled.

Her voice, when she answered, was so sweetly worried, asking what the emergency could be.

"I am calling to say, before Maya slips up and tells you, that after a lot of thinking-" okay, it hadn't been thinking so much as many years of not thinking before suddenly realising he wanted to put his mouth on Edgeworth's mouth, "-that I am, it turns out, uh, bisexual."

"What do you mean?" Pearls asked.

"Um. It's possible that I, well, I could date a man if I wanted to. Just like I could date a woman, in theory." In practice, by this point in time, it felt like he'd have more chance of dating his attorney's badge than a real human being.

"But that's not right, is it?" she said. "Relationships are meant to be a mommy and a daddy, that stay together forever. That's what normal. You should be looking for a new mommy for Trucy. She doesn't need any more daddies."

Phoenix thought, uncharitably, that she didn't need any new mommies, either. She needed her old mommy to stop dragging her feet about reintroducing herself. But that wasn't the point. "There's nothing wrong with it. It's not abnormal. It's just different than you expect."

"Aren't you different enough before this?"

"Not everything is like your romance novels, Pearls." Though Trucy had already discovered that there were romance novels about two men together (or more than two men, or human beings with robots and space aliens and sentient coffee cups) and was threatening to buy them for him.

"There's nothing wrong with those books, Mr Nick. I don't know why I ever thought someone like you could be Mystic Maya's special someone. I'm so glad you never decided to be with her." Phoenix was too, but for different reasons. "I can't talk to you until you've come to your senses," Pearls finally declared, and ended the call.

That could have gone better.

Phoenix slumped into himself, a little, before texting a message to Maya to have a talk to Pearls. He knew she'd come around eventually. He just hoped it wouldn't take long.

#

Phoenix felt so out of sorts that he decided to have a midday nap on the office couch, three days in a row. Luckily, Athena had accepted his strange habits, and was distracted by Trucy coming by on school lunch breaks to pester her about being her new magical assistant.

#

He was woken by his phone ringing. He answered without even looking.

"Wright, what are you wearing?"

"Huh? What?" He felt himself blinking back into the real world at the sound of Edgeworth's voice.

"Never mind. I'll come to your office instead. Please be ready for me."

Edgeworth ended the call abruptly. Phoenix pushed himself off the couch, confused, and tried to fix his hair.

Edgeworth arrived at the office holding some sandwiches and case files, and looking even more handsome than he had the last time Phoenix had seen him. Was he doing that on purpose? That wasn't fair.

"You forgot that you agreed to meet me for lunch today, didn't you?" Edgeworth asked. "I begin to suspect your disorganisation is incurable."

"Oh, to look over that old case you found suspicious. Right. I definitely remember."

"If only you'd remembered half an hour ago."

Phoenix scratched at the back of his neck, and tried to laugh it off.

"You've been even more distracted than usual lately. Is it because of losing your employee?"

Phoenix looked to where Apollo's jacket was still slung over the back of the couch. It would be a good excuse, but- "No, I'm happy for Apollo and proud of him. He's a very talented young lawyer and he's got a great opportunity. Though it is a little quieter in the office without him here."

Edgeworth pushed past Phoenix to put everything he was holding down on the table. Phoenix nearly tripped over himself, trying to follow.

Edgeworth settled himself down on the couch and looked up with a sharp expression. "If you have to focus on something, focus on me-" _That_ wasn't going to be a problem "-and how much I'm paying you to act as a consultant."

It wasn't a hardship to argue with Edgeworth about the law. By the time Athena came back from her run and shrieked about finding the chief prosecutor on the office couch, Phoenix had forgotten that he'd ever been in that weird mood at all.

#

Phoenix had many regrets in life. Allowing Larry to drag him out on a Friday night was one of them.

"It's going to be great, Nick," Larry said, splashing his drink everywhere as he talked. "Catching the bouquet was destiny. It means I'm definitely going to find the woman of my dreams soon. You'll be the best man when I get married, won't you?"

"I think you skipped a few steps there, Larry."

"We can start with those women over there. I could find a woman for you, too. Maybe the one with the glasses."

Phoenix looked over at where Larry was pointing. At least these women were closer to his own age than the last unfortunate woman he'd fixated on. Phoenix wasn't sure whether to encourage him or not.

"Well, you know, I'm bisexual now, so there's no reason I have to find a woman." He was practising just throwing it out there, and acting like he'd always been out to everyone and it was no big deal. He wasn't sure his casualness was very convincing.

Still, Larry made an excited face and said, "That's great, Nick. I hear women are really into that man on man thing now. Maybe if you make out with me they'll come over here."

Phoenix just put his face in his hands and sighed.

Half an hour later and Larry had dragged Phoenix over to that particular group of women, and was laughing obnoxiously with two very drunk sisters ("Twins! That's amazing! Can I marry twins, Nick?") while Phoenix talked to the redhead with the glasses all about Trucy's magician career. Her name was Jane Plain and she had a son starting elementary school the next year.

Phoenix was deep into a conversation about childrearing when Larry leaned in between them and said, "Did you know? Nick's bisexual."

"Larry... We were talking about school lunches. That's not really relevant," Phoenix said.

Jane tilted her head and said, "I don't believe bisexuals actually exist."

Phoenix began to wish he was drinking something stronger than grape juice. "I'm existing right here. The evidence is pretty clear on that."

And then Jane added, "They should all just pick a side."

Phoenix could suddenly imagine every annoying conversation he was going to get stuck in for the rest of his life. "I need some air," he said, and walked straight out.

As soon as he left the bar, the cool night air hit him hard. He could feel where the sweat had started to gather at the back of his neck. More and more he understood those people who got botox injected into every part of their bodies to stop them sweating.

He got out his phone and quickly scrolled through his contacts to send a message to Maya: 'at a bar with Larry rescue me'

His phone rang only a minute later, the Steel Samurai theme blaring into the night. Why was Edgeworth calling him?

"What's the emergency?" Edgeworth asked, as soon as Phoenix accepted the call.

"What are you talking about?"

"You sent me a message asking to be rescued. I hope you're not wasting my time with a prank."

 _Oh._ To be fair, Maya Fey and Miles Edgeworth were right next to each other in his contacts. Sometimes texting mistakes happened. They usually weren't so obvious because Edgeworth and Maya had a surprising amount of embarrassing traits in common. "That message was supposed to go to Maya and then she'd rescue me by making fun of Larry, and me, and all our life choices."

He could hear from the sigh that came over the phone, that Edgeworth was questioning all his own life choices. "I see. Will you at least tell me what happened?"

"Nothing big. It's just that a woman said something rude to me about- It doesn't matter. I wanted someone to talk to while I looked for the bus stop. That's a Maya level emergency, not an Edgeworth level emergency."

"Stay where you are. I'll come get you."

"What?" Edgeworth hung up before Phoenix could ask further. Had he really sounded so pathetic that Edgeworth actually offered to give him a lift home without prompting? He usually had to play up the tragedy of his life a lot more to get that offer, and even then his chances were iffy.

The door opened, and Larry came out to bother Phoenix some more.

"I'm sorry about Jane, Nick. I told her that wasn't cool. We are all about accepting alternative sexualities here," Larry said.

Okay, that was much more understanding than Phoenix had expected.

"You should come back inside," Larry said. "Candy and Lolly are missing you."

They probably weren't. "No, I'm going home. Sorry, Larry. You should make up an excuse for me."

"Are you sure, dude? What about the ladies?"

Phoenix shrugged. "Tell them I've gone home to see my daughter."

"Hey, Nick? Now that you're bisexual, are you finally going to settle down with Edgey?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What you said got me thinking. You did become a lawyer for him. It would make sense if you've been gay for him this whole time."

"No! Back then, I just wanted my friend back." If he looked back, Phoenix could admit he didn't really know Edgeworth back then. He was just running after a shadow of a memory of a friend from childhood. It was lucky that Edgeworth turned out to be everything Phoenix remembered, underneath it all, and all the hard work paid off. The falling in love must have happened later, as the adult version of Miles Edgeworth revealed himself, piece by piece, to be everything Phoenix hadn't realised he was waiting for. Now, he knew Edgeworth. Really knew him, not a fantasy concocted based on the memories of a nine-year-old.

Larry tilted his head to the side like he was thinking deeply, which never boded well. "Edgey has tons of money, dude. He could keep you living a fancy life. You should marry him."

"I'm not going to marry Edgeworth."

"Not until after I've gotten married, Nick! I'm next in line. Make him commit to you. Don't let him play around on you. I'll give the speech at your wedding." Larry rounded it off with finger guns and shuffled back into the bar before Phoenix could even start to object.

That left him standing there, waiting for Edgeworth, more confused by everything happening in his life than ever before.

And then Edgeworth finally arrived. That bright red car was conspicuous, over-the-top, faintly ridiculous – in short, completely suited to the man who drove it. He was making a show of tapping the steering wheel impatiently. Phoenix wanted to watch him do things like that for the rest of his life.

Edgeworth pressed a button and the windows rolled down. "Are you ever going to get in my car?"

Phoenix shivered, and rushed to comply.

"Thanks for this, Edgeworth. You're not usually this- Uh, I mean, thanks." He awkwardly dragged his seatbelt down and tried not to feel like the least cool person on earth.

"What on earth made you agree to be dragged out at night by Larry, of all people?" Edgeworth fixed his eyes on the traffic as he moved the car into it, and Phoenix felt perversely glad. He wasn't sure he could handle all of Edgeworth's intensity at that moment.

"He's decided to get serious about finding the woman of his dreams and dragged me into it, even though I make a terrible wingman."

"While annoying, I don't see how that's dire."

"Nobody said dire." Phoenix had no doubt that once Larry found a girlfriend he'd once again disappear for a few years, anyway. "He got it in his head that he needed to find me a woman, too, and introduced me to the rudest woman in the bar."

Phoenix watched the way Edgeworth swallowed air, visible even though the shielding layer of his cravat. "Ah, of course. I should have realised."

Should have realised Larry was a terrible matchmaker? Phoenix was pretty sure the night had taken another confusing turn, because the stiff expression on Edgeworth's face said they were about to have one of those conversations where Edgeworth assumed something that made no sense to him. "Should have realised what?"

"You've had your career back for some time. You're at that age. It's only natural you should look for a woman so you can have marriage and children."

"What? I- Edgeworth, that's not- I already have Trucy. Can we at least wait until she grows up before you try to marry me off?"

"Don't be obtuse, Wright. I've seen how happy fatherhood makes you."

"That doesn't mean I have to marry some woman. If you don't want to, why should I?"

Edgeworth cut him a sharp look before returning his glare to the traffic. "I'm sure you realise why I wouldn't want to marry a woman."

"I wasn't saying you should marry a woman. If there was a man you wanted to marry, well, then I'd support you." He'd probably spend a lot of time crying in the dark over it, but he'd try to be supportive. It wasn't a good thing to ponder; the thought of it was like a stabbing pain in his chest. Phoenix looked out the window so he wouldn't have to let Edgeworth see his annoyingly emotional face.

"You know I don't want that sort of life."

"Don't want it or don't think you get to have it?" Phoenix muttered.

"That's irrelevant."

"How is that irrelevant?" Phoenix swung his head back to yell right at Edgeworth's face. He could feel his face getting hot, the sudden urge to win the argument burning hot within him, even if he wasn't sure why.

"I am not the one on trial here."

"Nobody's on trial here! We're in your car!"

Edgeworth swerved out of the lane and stopped at the side of the road.

"Are you parking so you can yell at me?" Phoenix asked. "You can yell and drive. I believe in you."

"You listen here, Wright," Edgeworth said, pointing his finger in Phoenix's face. "Don't waste your life. You're a kind-hearted, brilliant man. If this is any kind of just universe, then surely women understand that and throw themselves at you. You should find yourself someone who will love you the way you deserve. Stop worrying about me."

"Edgeworth..." Phoenix's heart was full to bursting. "I'm really not that great. I'm disorganised and easily distracted, and I cry too much, even now."

Edgeworth moved to look at his knees. "I haven't seen you cry since childhood."

"I once cried while watching a marathon of Say Yes to the Dress with Maya. Some of the episodes are really touching."

Edgeworth scoffed. "You're a ridiculous man."

"Completely ridiculous," Phoenix said. He couldn't control the smile that was taking up residence on his face. "You should watch a sad movie with me some time so you can see how ridiculous I get."

"I have a lot of paperwork."

Phoenix put his hand on the glove box, just so they'd be that little bit closer. "That's why you came to pick me up, isn't it? So you could have an excuse to ignore that paperwork for a moment."

"Well. You're certainly distracting." Edgeworth's hand, where it was gripping his own knee, relaxed. "Ah, but I should get back to it." Edgeworth finally looked up again to slide Phoenix a look. "You've distracted me long enough."

Phoenix finally looked at their surroundings, to figure out where they were parked. "If you need me to go already, I could probably walk from here."

"Don't be ridiculous, Wright. I'll drive you to your door."

Finally, they arrived at Phoenix's building, the car rolling smoothly to a stop.

"I suppose I'll see you-"

"At Trucy's triumphant return to Primrose Theatre on Friday. You promised her you would go. I was there. You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Oh, of course."

"I'll let you pretend you didn't forget. Did you let her gouge you on ticket prices?"

"I'm always willing to support a talented young magician."

"We'll add that to the list of things you're known for."

He wanted to touch Edgeworth before he left the car, so he could ground himself in some sort of reality. Edgeworth was sort of skittish at times, and Phoenix wasn't his intense youthful past self who thought it was a good idea to do crazy things like eat glass and pursue people too aggressively any more, so he settled for touching Edgeworth's hand. Slid his fingers over the warmth of Edgeworth's skin, quick and electric.

"I really must get back to work," Edgeworth said, looking down at his own hand like he'd never seen it before.

Phoenix was pretty sure he was in with a chance.

"I'll see you on Friday," Phoenix said. Had to remind himself he needed to leave the quiet intimacy of the car before his body would move.

#

Inside, Trucy was doing her math homework in front of the TV. Phoenix let himself flop on the couch next to her, with a huff.

Trucy looked up from her page and tapped her pen against her cheek. "Klavier emailed me a list of books and documentaries for you to look at that he says are about bisexual life and community building. Do you want me to forward it to you or should I print it out?"

"Am I supposed to take an exam before I'm allowed to be bisexual? Nobody told me there'd be homework."

"I'll print it out." She lowered her pen to her page but didn't look down at her work. "Did you have a good night out, daddy?"

Phoenix remembered Edgeworth calling him 'brilliant' and slid back further into the couch cushions. "Yeah, it was great. Weird but great."


	6. Chapter 6

Friday night. Phoenix arrived way too early at the theater, while Trucy was still going through the final details with the other magicians in her dressing room. He left Trucy backstage with her bunny girls, and ventured into the front of house, to check if it was filling up yet.

Maya was supposed to be in Kurain village, ordering people around, so he was surprised to see her and Pearls standing near the rows of seats, talking. Pearl was looking worried and biting her thumb, while watching Maya speak. Maya looked uncharacteristically serious. Maybe he just thought it was uncharacteristic because he got to spend so little time with her any more, so every moment they had together had to be the most fun ever. She got pretty serious on the phone. She probably looked serious all the time, in secret.

He reached them in lightning speed. Maya saw him first and nudged Pearls in the shoulder.

"Hey, what's going on? What's wrong?" he asked.

Pearls turned at the sound of his voice. Her shoulders were hunched and she flicked her eyes to the side, instead of looking up at his face.

"Pearly has something to say to you," Maya said.

Pearls wrung her hands together. "I'm sorry, Mr Nick. I shouldn't have said those things to you on the phone. I'm a terrible person."

"Hey, no." He sat in the nearest available chair, so he could look up at her instead of looming. "You were surprised, that's all. It's fine if you took a little while to wrap your head around it."

Pearls shook her head. "It wasn't right. There's nothing wrong with who you choose to love, or even if it's not a choice. It's just who you are. I should have thought that at the beginning and said supportive things."

Phoenix put a hand on her shoulder and tapped her chin so she'd look up. "It really is okay. I knew you weren't going to be upset forever. It's fine if it took you a little time to accept it. If you think about it, it took me 35 years, so you're still ahead."

Maya laughed.

"Anyway," Phoenix said, "I'm the adult. It's not your job to support me, even if you think I'm so hopeless that I need it."

It had been a long time since Pearls had given him a proper hug. He'd definitely missed it.

After that, he decided the best thing to do was take her backstage so she could be Trucy's very own VIP guest. That would cheer her up quickly, otherwise she'd just stew in her own guilt needlessly until she got upset again.

When he got back to the seating area to talk to Maya she was engaged in a whispered conversation – looked more like an argument – with Edgeworth, who was suspiciously early. What was going on?

He got close enough to hear Edgeworth hiss, "Stop trying to push him at me. There isn't a chance it will work," before Edgeworth stomped off. Or the closest thing you can get to stomping in a man of Edgeworth's stature.

Phoenix smiled apologetically at Maya before zagging after Edgeworth instead. Edgeworth was heading in the wrong direction, backstage.

A stage hand said, "Nobody's supposed to be back there!"

Edgeworth turned where he stood, but didn't leave.

"Don't worry, I'll get him back to where he's supposed to be."

Edgeworth could pretend to be the more functional adult all he wanted; he still got stiff and awkward and obvious when he was nervous.

Phoenix marched right up to him. If he was right about what was happening between them, then great. And if he wasn't? If Edgeworth reacted so badly to what he was about to do that he panicked and moved to another country and tried to never speak to Phoenix again, well, Phoenix would just have to hunt him down and force him to be friends again. He wasn't worried any more.

Phoenix put one hand on Edgeworth's shoulder. He put the other shaking hand on Edgeworth's jaw. And after a deep breath to fortify himself, kissed him.

At first the moment of panic – did he really do that? what was he thinking? what if it all went horribly wrong? – but then he noticed Edgeworth's hand gripping his shoulder and the way Edgeworth's mouth parted smoothly against his. Edgeworth's mouth was as good as he'd imagined. He grazed his teeth against Edgeworth's lower lip like he'd been imagining for weeks. Phoenix could feel the way Edgeworth groaned against his mouth.

Was it relief that made his knees weak?

Edgeworth pulled away and his face was surprisingly flushed. Phoenix felt a little dazed. When Edgeworth removed his glasses, and tucked them neatly in a pocket, his eyelids were heavy, his gaze intense.

"Wright..." he spoke, his voice breathy and close. "Phoenix..."

Phoenix had never realised before that just the sound of his first name could feel so electric.

Then Edgeworth moved in for another kiss and it was smoother and sweeter than Phoenix could have imagined possible. Phoenix grabbed that stupid cravat to try to drag Edgeworth even closer. Just a little bit of tongue was enough to make him shiver all over like a school boy getting kissed for the first time.

Bad fiction on the internet would have him believe that kissing a man had to be rough and hard and painful, mashing faces and bumping teeth, but Edgeworth's skin was soft and kissing him made Phoenix feel melty all over.

Edgeworth pushed away, with a rough gasp. "We should talk about this, uh, this turn of events."

"Or we could kiss again." Phoenix huffed out a giddy laugh. "I haven't been able to think of doing anything else for a while. It's kind of embarrassing, really."

Edgeworth looked away. "We've had a somewhat peculiar friendship. It's only natural you would get curious at some point."

"Curious." Phoenix dropped his arms by his side and stepped back. "You think I would risk a life-long friendship over curiosity."

Edgeworth was clutching at his arm, like he was still 24 and doubting and they hadn't been through everything since that point. "You have been known to make rash decisions."

"Rash decisions? I'm in love with you! And that means-" Phoenix breathed through the ache that was lodging itself deep in his chest "-that if you're refusing to believe that I could feel that way, it's because you don't want me to be, because you don't feel the same way. If you're going to break my heart, do it fast."

It didn't make sense to Phoenix that Edgeworth would kiss back out of nothing more than curiosity, either, but he'd been known to be wrong about things.

"But how could you feel that way for me? I was convinced that... There was so much evidence that you were heterosexual and that I..." Edgeworth was touching his own lips as if trying to feel the proof of what happened with his fingers.

"It turns out I've been bisexual all along." Phoenix tried to shrug, but he slumped instead.

"Looking back on things, that does make a lot more sense." Edgeworth stood rigidly straight, eyes forward. "Why now?"

"Does it matter why now? All I know is, by the time I realised I felt this way it was too late to back out of it."

It's possible that Edgeworth was smiling. "The way I feel for you, it started so very long ago. I was sure I would never get to have you."

"You love me. I was right all along. You definitely love me."

Edgeworth was leaning closer again. "Yes, I do."

"I'm so relieved."

Then they were kissing again, arms thrown around each other. Phoenix was pretty sure he would never get tired of it.

And then a stern-sounding whisper, "Pay no attention to the men behind the curtain." That was definitely Trucy's voice.

Edgeworth pulled away and patted down his outfit to neaten it, as if it would make it any less obvious they'd just been making out. Phoenix turned to see what he was squinting at.

They had an audience. Clearly in spite of Trucy's best efforts, as she tried to push away everyone looking at them. The stage hand looked panicked and annoyed. Pearls' eyes were almost perfectly round and her hands covered half her face. A smirking magician twirled an umbrella at them. Phoenix was just thankful Maya wasn't there to heckle them (that would inevitably come later).

Phoenix scratched at his neck. "Been there long?"

"Don't worry about that, daddy. As long as you stay quiet, you can stay back there as long as you like." Trucy punctuated her statement with a wink. "And make him come for dinner. I have to ask about his intentions."

Edgeworth fumbled through words of agreement until Trucy finally managed to drag their spectators away.

Phoenix turned back to him and raised an eyebrow. "So, what are your intentions?" He put his hand to one of Edgeworth's lapels just to watch him get distracted and lose his composure all over again.

"Ah, um. Well, of course I will take you out in a non-professional capacity."

"You want to date me." Phoenix smiled at the thought of it.

"That was poorly phrased on my part but, of course, that is what I meant. I would like to be your romantic partner, if you do not object."

"You want to be my boyfriend."

"I made that quite clear. There was no ambiguity in my statement." Edgeworth was getting huffy about it. Phoenix thought arguing with Edgeworth was fun before, but now it seemed to have raised even higher in entertainment value.

"My boyfriend, Miles Edgeworth."

"Do be quiet," Edgeworth said, and shut him up with his mouth.

When they parted from the kiss Phoenix was dizzy with it all over again.

"I still have no desire to get married," Edgeworth said. "It's a ridiculous institution that I see no purpose to in this day and age."

"Larry will be disappointed," Phoenix said, and watched Edgeworth squint in confusion. "I can learn to live with it, as long as you don't want to kiss anyone but me for the rest of your life."

"That's an acceptable condition." And another kiss, just as good as the last.

They did come up for air eventually. Edgeworth put his glasses back on and suggested they find their seats. And when Phoenix put out a hand to hold, he entwined their fingers with no hesitation.


End file.
